Nvidia overhauls Asian chip sales: cuts buyer list amid export crackdown

Nvidia has tightened the way it approves customers in Asia after 31 May guidance from the U.S. Commerce Department. It now keeps an authorized-buyer list, and more than half of the companies that previously bought Nvidia’s top chips have been cut. The closer screening is aimed at Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, all major server, cloud, and trading hubs that have shown up in diversion cases. Pressure from Washington has been building. The 31 May guidance said any buyer with an ultimate parent in China or Macau needs an export license no matter where the subsidiary sits, so murky ownership or shareholders that raise red flags can be enough to stop a sale.

Nvidia is also going beyond paperwork. The company is adding data-center visits, contract reviews, and interviews with end users, with support from the U.S. Commerce Department. Companies that were dropped can reportedly apply again, but Nvidia hasn’t said what that process looks like. The tougher line follows March charges over an alleged $2.5 billion route from Taiwan to China through a Southeast Asian proxy.

If you buy Nvidia hardware in Asia, the pricing helps explain why this is happening. B300 servers in China have climbed to about $1 million, roughly twice the U.S. list price. That helps explain the tougher enforcement, but it could also slow Southeast Asia’s data-center market and shift more demand to Chinese chipmakers. There’s nothing to download here. This change hits Nvidia’s chip sales across Asia, and if a buyer can’t prove ownership, end use, and destination, the sale may not happen.